Courtesy of Le Moyne CollegeThis turf field is part of Le Moyne College's new $3 million sports complex, which will host the men's lacrosse season opener Saturday.

With a new turf field just a long clearing pass away from his office making life easier, Le Moyne men’s lacrosse coach Dan Sheehan finds himself with a little extra time on his hands these days.

How does he fill that spare hour or two? Like any other successful coach would.

“We’re going to move a cot in here, take naps,” he joked Thursday. “Hopefully the convenience we have here will allow us to work harder, longer.”

That effort can now be fully channeled toward pushing Le Moyne toward the top of the Division II mountain again instead of fretting about whether his team will need cleats or snowshoes to play.

The Dolphins, ranked No. 2 in the USILA preseason coaches’ poll, open their season at home against Seton Hill at noon Saturday. The landmark twist here is that Le Moyne will actually play on campus, on its new $3 million complex that unfolds in front of the athletics center.

Sheehan, in his 14th season with the Dolphins, has never played an on-campus game this early because snow usually made the grass field unplayable until mid-March. That had Sheehan making phone calls almost every day arranging alternate sites for practices and “home” games.

“It was a logistical nightmare on a daily basis,” Sheehan said.

“It was always a disruption,” said senior attacker Jack Venditti. “I guess people got used to the way it was.”

The complex — including permanent stands for 800, a new scoreboard and press box — was a decade in the planning and about three years in production. It teased the players and Sheehan, who said he used to drive past the construction site, see a beautiful sun high in the sky and wonder why a bulldozer was sitting idle.

Now, the grounds is a hub of activity. Thursday morning, Dolphins baseball players, some ignoring the arctic air by wearing shorts and T-shirts, took fielding practice. The softball team has time on the turf, too. And the soccer teams. Plus, naturally, the men’s and women’s lacrosse players.

“It’s been a passion for all the folks down here in athletics,” Sheehan said of the project. “The folks in athletics did a great job in educating the rest of campus that this is something we need.”

Also at the top of the wish list for Sheehan and the Dolphins is another championship trophy to go along with the three he’s already won. Le Moyne has lost in the title game each of the past three seasons and Sheehan has never had a four-year player who left without a ring.

“I think about it every single second of the day. But I don’t let it get the best of me,” said Venditti, a former Baldwinsville star who has played in each of those previous title games.

“I hope they don’t put too much pressure on themselves,” Sheehan said. “It takes an entire team for an entire season, in our case, to win a national championship.”

Le Moyne, which has won 46 consecutive regular-season games, again has the talent to change those unhappy endings. It returns 22 letterwinners and six starters, including Venditti, who was named to the Inside Lacrosse’s preseason All-American team.

Fellow seniors Matt Chadderdon (Auburn), Jack Harmatuk (CBA) and Corey Bulken (Baldwinsville) also received the same first-team honor. Harmatuk, named the country’s top attackman last year, was selected as Lacrosse Magazine’s Division II men’s preseason player of the year.

“Preseason polls, preseason accolades are just that. A lot of time those accolades are a result of last year’s hard work,” Sheehan said. “Well, last year we finished second. The year before that, we finished second. The year before that, we finished second. What our locker room is looking toward is bigger than any previous accolade.”

The new field is a part of that bigger picture, but, as Sheehan emphasized, only as background scenery.

“The comments I’ve gotten, ‘Gee, imagine what you’re going to do now with a new field.’ If it was only that easy,” Sheehan said. “I don’t want that to sound ungrateful for what we have. It’s important that everyone in our program understands what is was to put us in a position to win three national championships. It’s all the hard work and dedication by the kids who put on their helmets every day. It’s not about a convenience or a luxury.”